China

Persecution. Hardship. Incarceration. Yet nothing stops them from spreading the Gospel to all and sundry, from the big cities to the remotest of villages and tribes.

No church-growth gurus. No gimmicks like secular performances and the word “sex” to pull in the crowds, only Christ. No purpose-driven drivel. No false promises of health, wealth or prosperity. Yet God grows His church in China daily.

This… is true Christianity.

This… is true revival.

This… will put us to shame, and may God humble us all through His faithful servants in China.

The Lord is doing a great work in China, Hallelu YaH!

HT: Puritan Fellowship.

I received an email from a dear brother, Nick, who is currently on a mission trip in China, coveting our prayers. Here’s a quick update that he gave me in his email:

Hubei - where we’ve been doing all his work for the past 10-20 years and where we are this week. The main people we’ve been working with is the head of the Hubei Christian City Council (in charge of all the govt churches in the Hubei Province) and they’ve been the one opening all the doors for us, including outdoor crusades every week in one of the smaller towns, booking a stadium for our band, etc. Sadly, last night, these leaders we’ve been working with just got ousted out of the council and kinda forced into retirement. Not only that, their church has been taken away from them. It’s still early to tell the impact as we liaise with the new leaders and teach them the ways of God so please keep this in prayer. But apparently there’s some politics going on in the church already, people turning people in to the Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) and apparently we were turned in too! The RAB didn’t wanna care about us but because somebody reported us, they had to come on Sunday to film our services (we actually praised God for that - that they can hear the word of God, ha ha ha)

Hunan - Mao Ze Dong’s hometown. Apparently more than 2000+ govt churches changed their worship styles after my last trip there (think you remember the last testimony I sent out on this one where even the govt officials were touched in our worship sessions) and the Hunan Christian City Council (head of all the govt churches in Hunan) kinda want me back there to teach for 1 year *gulps* (I’m trying to see if I can arrange anybody else to go)

Personally I’ve been doing back to back leading worship and teaching Praise and worship to the church, to their bible training centre, their Christian School (called ‘the Ark’) and to their seminary (all in Hubei) for the past 2 days from dawn to dusk literally (6am to 10pm everyday). The pollution here is not good for my voice I remember last time I came I fell really sick by the end of the week (which was also spiritual warfare) so covet your prayers there.

Please pray for the missionaries, and the Church in China.

Nick, here’s an encouragement for you that I hope you’ll be able to see all the way in Wuhan.

The LORD bless and keep you safe.

To those who ask me why I can’t be bothered about this year’s Olympics in Beijing and why I never say nice things about the Chinese government, let these news stories tell you why:

China Continues Crackdown On Christian Earthquake Relief Efforts, Christians Say

BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)– Chinese security forces continue to arrest Christians involved in helping survivors of the recent earthquake, which killed at least nearly 70,000 people in southwest China’s Sichuan province, with many thousands more missing and likely dead, representatives said Wednesday, June 4. Read more here…

In other news, persecution of Christians is intensifying in the lead-up to the Olympics:

China Crackdown On Christians Ahead Of Olympics, Report Claims

BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)– With two months to go until the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, a major human rights group on Sunday, June 8, released a report detailing what it called a “current government crackdown on China’s unregistered Christians.” Read more here…

Pray for our persecuted brethren and sisters in China.

I have always been a history buff and love watching historical period dramas where the failures, achievements and life of a great king, emperor or warlord is re-enacted in a TV series.

Some of the best ones I’ve watched are productions from China on the great emperors of the Qing dynasty (last dynasty of China when the Manchurians ran China) — Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong.

In ancient China, the emperor was sovereign. He was above the law and the law-giver. At his discretion, the emperor is able to put to death or pardon anyone and even entire clans, betroth persons to be married, bestow or take away accolades, and the list goes on.

In other words, the emperor can rule over all aspects of a person’s life if he so chooses to.

The good emperors did not rule through intimidation or fear though, but wisely. Such emperors were usually merciful, and had the best interests of his people at heart. In return, his subjects loved and revered him, and some were willing to lay down their lives for the emperor’s cause which in their minds was a just one.

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